Blog Post

Why Menopause and Weight Gain?

Estrogen is the hormone that causes weight gain during menopause. Weight gain is only one of the many symptoms a woman can experience during this period. The symptoms during menopause are due to the presence of too much estrogen. The term menopause, refers to the point when one’s menstrual cycle stops. The symptoms associated with menopause can be experienced a few years before ones monthly menstrual cycle stops. These years are referred to as pre-menopause and are worse than the years after menopause.

In some women, pre-menopause signs start ten years before menopause and can sometimes persist for 5 to 10 years after one’s menstrual cycle has ended.

At menopause, the progesterone level can be as low as those in a man, but estrogen levels only drop when it finally arrives. Despite this fact, women are very often informed that the adverse symptoms they have been experiencing are due to a drop in their estrogen level.

Does estrogen cause weight gain? : one might ask. Definitely, as weight gain at menopause is actually a symptom of too much estrogen. It is also one of the side effects of estrogen replacement.

Dr. P. Ellison of Harvard University has studied estrogen levels in various ecological and cultural populations and has found that estrogen levels in western women are abnormally high. This can be due to a number of factors:
• the food we consume (particularly animals fed estrogen to fatten them)
• the crops sprayed with pesticides (most of which are estrogenic)
• the Pill and HRT
• drinking recycled water which has not had the estrogen removed
• using cosmetics which are made with liquid paraffin and estrogenic antioxidants

An understanding of the effects of progesterone is key in knowing the enormously beneficial role its presence has in helping one go through menopause without all the corresponding symptoms.
By naturally opposing the action of estrogen, the symptoms of estrogen dominance are lessened and in some cases eliminated.
Did you know that fat produces estrogen! When someone is overweight, the fat cells produces more estrogen and which in turn increases estrogen dominance symptoms.

The easiest method to break this vicious circle is to apply a progesterone cream that will bring the ratio of Estrogen to Progesterone back to normal.

How to alleviate the symptoms of menopause?

There are two principal lines of approach…

1. Nutrition and Diet

As people’s taste vary considerably four alternative nutrition ( there are five below) and diet plans are offered below. All are excellent, as the emphasis in each is keeping blood glucose levels stable…
• The Paleo Diet
• Dr. Mercola Nutritional Typing
• Soaring Free Superfoods (raw food)
• Living and Raw Foods
• David Wolfe
2. Progesterone Cream therapy:
This treatment is highly effective when used correctly. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, women should use between 100-200mg/day of progesterone.